The Cabinet has approved a proposal to extend the Rs 40 bonus scheme by up to six months to enable the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to buy more from the market.
The bonus scheme, which was to have expired on March 31 this year, was extended by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
The decision would allow the FCI to pay a bonus of Rs 40 per quintal of paddy over and above the minimum support price, a spokesperson told reporters after the meeting.
The decision had been taken aimed at ensuring adequacy of grain stocks in the central pool and food security, she said.
The government had announced the bonus for paddy procurement during the kharif marketing season of 2006-07 above the minimum support price of Rs 580 per quintal for the common variety and Rs 610 per quintal for the premium variety.
The extension of the bonus will be valid till May 31 in Bihar and Kerala, while farmers in other rice growing states such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Tamil
Nadu and West Bengal will be able to avail of this incentive till September.
The FCI, which maintains the central pool, has procured 27.02 million tones of rice, including 6.14 million tones of levy rice, from millers till April 15 during the 2006-07 marketing season.
{{/usCountry}}The FCI, which maintains the central pool, has procured 27.02 million tones of rice, including 6.14 million tones of levy rice, from millers till April 15 during the 2006-07 marketing season.
{{/usCountry}}The country is expected to produce a total of 91.05 million tones of rice during kharif and rabi 2006-07, according to the third advance estimates, against 91.79 million tones produced in the year-ago period.